Tonight's Inspiration....

I am going to change moods a little here. Tonight I watched ABC's special on Gabriel Giffords and Mark Kelly. Their story is undeniably incredible. But it really struck home when my favorite Diane Sawyer said "The life you live is not the life you planned". So I started thinking about all the plans that Ryan and I have talked about together. We talk about all the places we want to travel to, what our dream home will be like, career plans, our next car, when we want kids, how many kids...all the things that a soon-to-be wed couple normally talks about.

So call me crazy but maybe we should be talking about all the things we don't plan. Will one of us have cancer someday? Will we have a hard time having children? Will one of us get laid off? What are the challenges we as a couple have yet to face? Or perhaps the unplanned is not all bad. We could be blessed with more kids than planned. Or an opportunity to live internationally. Or maybe win the lotto (ok it's just wishful thinking) : )

My point is we don't know what lies ahead or what we will be forced to overcome. I guess that is the intriguing thing about a marriage. But the important things is, when the time comes to face what life throws at us, we face it together. For me, there is not a single day that I don't believe Ryan is the man I want to experience everything with. The good, the bad and the unexpected.

Thanks for reading my emotional rant. And thank you Gabby and Mark for being so inspirational.

Love to all!

Kristen

Photographers, DJs and Dresses, Oh My!

Holy wedding gods I need to catch everyone up on all that has been going on!! We are cruising along with the plans. Some major checks on the list include photographer, DJ and most importantly (in my opinion) THE DRESS!!

My quest for a photographer was a bit challenging. I probably emailed and talked to 30 or more in the whole state of Michigan. Some were pushy, some were cheesy and a lot were over budget. But thanks to a suggestion from a friend I found our gal, Genevieve McKeiver! She is super down to earth and matches our personality perfectly. Just this past weekend we did our engagement photos with her (it only took us 8 months). Anyway, they went great! She made us super comfortable, well as comfortable as you can be when someone is taking pictures of you kissing and cuddling : ) We went to one of our favorite areas, Holland, MI. First stop was the New Holland Brewing Company for some beer to relax the nerves. Then we started about downtown and in the park. The weather turned out perfect and thankfully there was still some color on the trees. All in all it was a fun day and we are so happy to be working with Genevieve! Check out her website and blog: http://www.gmckeiverphotography.com/wedding/index2.php

After the craziness of talking to so many photographers, I decided that from here on out when looking at vendors I will talk to 3 and pick 1. Needless to say the hunt for a DJ was much simpler. We decided to go with Sound Productions. They are a preferred vendor of The Perry Hotel and seemed the least cheesy. I keep thinking about all the fun everyone is going to have dancing the night away! Now I just need to pick the perfect songs...

Finally, for the main event, THE DRESS, you will have to check back soon! Such a milestone in life and wedding planning deserves it's own post : )

Also coming soon is bridesmaid dresses, cakes and all the crafts you can imagine!

No Turning Back Now!!!

We FINALLY set our date!!! We are getting married September 1st, 2012 (yay!). We have signed, sealed and sent a deposit on the Stafford's Perry Hotel in Petoskey, MI (http://www.staffords.com/perryhotel).

It took us many months of searching (and many days thinking we should just go to the courthouse) but we have fallen in love with The Perry!! It has all the "up north Michigan" charm that runs in our blood. The Perry is set in downtown Petoskey and over looks Little Traverse Bay. We actually looked at 5 places  up north over Labor Day weekend, but there was no denying the quaint beauty of The Perry. And for those of us partiers, The Perry has it's own Irish pub, The Noggin Room in the basement for the reception afterglow.

I really encourage everyone to take a long weekend and enjoy the beauty of northern Michigan. There is lots to do and see around there. Petoskey, Charlevoix and Bay Harbor are all in close proximity to each other. There is tons of shops and restaurants to go to. I am just bursting with excitement to share this wonderful weekend with everyone!! Stay tuned for more lodging info...

I do owe lots of credit to my MOH Jessica. She has stuck by me and lifted my spirits everytime I was down about not finding "our place". It can really be a disappointing experience everytime you get your hopes up that you found the place you want to get married at and come to find it's not what you thought. This past Labor Day Jessica got married in Charlevoix, MI. That weekend proved that all this work really pays off. What a great time it was! It really set me in the mood for planning our wedding. I've seen her go through this adventure the past year and now I'm ready for it too! Jessica you are the best MOH ever! I don't know where I would be with out 23 great years of friendship with you : )

Here are a few highlights:

So now, I'm FINALLY feel like a bride and I'm really ready to get this wedding in gear!

Up next....find a photographer!!

P.S. I'm so glad I figured out how to post pictures : )

Peace, love and wedding bells,

Kristen

The Inner Monologue of a Bride to Be...

I am DETERMINED to not be a crazy bride. Or at least from everyone else's point of view. If someone you know is a bride to be, it's most likely that some or all of the following thoughts occur in their mind on a daily basis:

I need to remember that song on the radio to play at the wedding
I need to tone up more before dress shopping
Dress shopping is going to be a great day!
I wonder what style of dress I will get?
We totally have the cutest flower girl
DJ or band? DJ or band?
I wonder when I should start looking at photographers
I can't believe weddings cost this much!
Why are we even getting married, life is great how it is now!
We could have a nice downpayment on a house if we didn't have this wedding
Maybe we should just go to the courthouse??
I need my Mom...
I really don't want to go to te gym tonight, uhhh
I need to remember that song that played at the gym so we can play it at the wedding
I want a big wedding with everyone I love in there : )
Why are we not liking any of the venues we have visited?
Why don't I "feel" like a bride
Maybe we should just do a small destination wedding
I wish someone would plan all of this for me and I can just show up that day
I'm going to plan the BEST wedding anyone has even seen
Hair up or down? Half up? Curly? UP OR DOWN???
Do you get your makeup done for engagement photos?
Buffet or plated?
I am so going to cry when my Dad comes to walk to down the isle, too late, already tearing up!
What if my photographer doesn't do a good job? What if he looses the photos? I will KILL HIM!
I really liked that one reception venue, it's just not in a pretty area
What... if ....it...RAINS??
I want my Mom to find the most beautiful dress that makes her feel like a queen
Cake or cupcakes?
I need to start designing our Save the Dates and Invitations
We need engagement pictures!
A string quartet at the ceremony would be a nice touch
I really want blue shoes for my something blue
Can you bring a dog to a wedding??
There better be no drama at our wedding!
What song should our first song be? Crazy Train? Big Bottom Girls??
I feel fat....
We're definitely going dark blue dresses with greeny white flowers
Doesn't he care about any of the details?
Black or Grey tuxes on the groomsmen?
I NEED my Mom!
I wonder if Ryan will let me get a seahorse wedding cake topper?
Can't we get ONE THING checked off the list?
Oh my god we are so far behind!! The wedding is only 13 months away!!
I need a glass of wine
I need another glass of wine.....
I love my engagement ring : )
I love my fiance : )
I can't wait to be married : )
We are going to have a great wedding.... : )

And that is the inner monologue of a bride 12 months before her wedding....

 Like I said, I am DETERMINED not to be a crazy bride....

Time for a little catch up session....

Wow is time flying by of what?! I got to get this baby up to speed!

So far the hardest part of wedding planning is being far away from our families and friends. Luckily though we do know some really great peeps in Chicago. The weekend after we returned from Costa Rica it was time for some celebrating! One of our favorite couples, Todd and Darcy invited us over for dinner on that Saturday. We still had a bottle of champagne left over from our trip and it was a perfect time to pop the cork! Afterwards we headed over to our favorite Michigan State bar, The Full Shilling to meet up with the rest of the gang. A few more champagne toasts later and we had a goooood night! There was a great moment when I sat back and watched our friends. I realized how lucky we are for all the wonderful people in our lives who will share our big day with us. From then on I decided that the most important element in this wedding is that all the right people are there. A live band or fancy centerpieces mean NOTHING if the people you love are not there to share it with you.

Ok, enough of the sappy stuff : )

It was almost a whole month before we were able to go home and see everyone after we got engaged. I missed that time before reality set in where you plow through wedding magazines with your best girl friends and Mom and fantasize and brainstorm about your dream wedding. Oh well, such is life. But never the less we finally returned home to Michigan for some more much needed celebrating. First step, see my Mom and Dad!! It was so exciting to finally show them my beautiful new ring! And to hear the details about how Ryan asked my Dad for permission to marry me hehe : ) Gary even admitted to tearing up a little.

The next evening we planned a nice dinner out with our families. This was the first time the Underritters and the Schlaffs were all together. It's amazing to see your new family and old family all in the same setting. My Dad made a nice toast to us...what a guy : ) And my Mom surprised me by reading a text message I sent to her the day after Adrienne and Joe's wedding. It read " I met a really special guy and I can't wait to tell you all about it". Looks like he was really special after all!

As far as the actual wedding we have made little to no progress : ( It's been difficult and a little frustrating looking at venues. We have to drive back to Michigan everytime, which is challenging with our schedules. And it's a little disappointing when you really like a place online and it's not what you thought when you get there. I have to laugh though about some of the places we have seen. Once place in Rochester wanted to charge us $30 a kid for pop and juice! Are you serious? I can go to Costco and spend $30 on all the kids total! Also, I love the cake cutting fee. $2.50/person to cut the cake-HA! Tell you what, I will go in the kitchen in my white dress and cut my own damn cake! All this nickle and diming makes me think I went in to the wrong industry : )

But nevertheless I think we are on to a very good ceremony and reception plan. We booked a couple more appointments in early August so stay tuned....

From the beginning

For those of  you who don't know the full story I will start from the beginning.

Ryan and I actually met at a wedding. We were paired up together in the bridal party of our good friend's Joe and Adrienne. I had arrived a little late for the rehersal and snuck my way in to the line up. I remember counting down the line of groomsmen to see who I was with. And there he was. We met in the middle and as we had our practice walk down the isle I introduced myself. To which he replied "we already met, a few months ago when I was visiting Adrienne". Way to go Kristen, you are off to a good start...As the day progressed and the wedding day came we both obviously tried to come up with reasons to talk to one another. But it wasn't until the reception dinner that I knew there was something really special about this guy. We were so comfortable with each other right away that we even ate off each other's plate. So comfortable in fact that Ryan dropped food on me!! And when I told him one day I wanted to learn how to fly a plane. He flirtaciously told me his dad is a pilot...he had caught me, hook lined and sinker.

A quick side note to TC Bennett: You were right when you told Ryan about the "Bennett Charm". It really works...

Let me tell you, the lesson in this story is not to go to a wedding, have a few drinks and hope for the best. It is in fact a true tale of why you should always listen to your mother. Before I went to Adrienne and Joes wedding my Mom said to me "you know Kristen, people meet at weddings". I thought, what does she know, she hasn't dated since disco was in. But sure enough Mom, you were right. I did meet someone at this wedding. And my life has not been the same since.

It's so true that love is not always easy. For a year and a half we dated long distance from Detroit to Chicago. It was difficult, and seemed never ending at times. But we both knew we were in this for the long haul. But with hard work comes victory. In October of 2009 I made my final trek accross Michigan and Indiana and moved to Chicago! I showed up at Ryan's door with a car full of clothes and IKEA furniture. It was a big step moving in together but for us it was the right step.

Ryan and I often talk and fantisize about traveling around the world. Neither of us were able to study abroad while in college. So the time finally came for us to take a big trip together. Some friends of ours had gone to Costa Rica the previous year. It seemed like the perfect combination of adventure and relaxation. And it was....we hiked through the jungles, drank margaritas, rode horses up a mountain, drank beer, zip lined in the tree tops, layed by the pool (with margaritas and beers), and ate, ate, ATE the best food!!

I knew Ryan's proposal was coming. The funny thing is, he still thinks he can hide things from me. But I see right through that boy : ) Anyway, some conversations prior to our trip lead me to believe that it was coming. The first night we arrived in Costa Rica we went to get dinner at the resort's restaurant, Rico Tico. And sure enough, mister "I can't hide anything" told me he had a surprise dinner planned for us the following night. As we were getting ready for dinner the next night, I started to question if it was going to happen. Ryan sat on the porch, calmly reading a book while I frantically tried to make myself look perfect. How could he be so calm?! Especially after seeing this one trying to curl her hair like a psycho in 90 degree 112% humidity--not a pretty sight. But never the less Ryan told me I looked beautiful (awww). So off to dinner we went. The restaurant was way on the top of a hill. It opened up completely to the outdoors. Our table overlooked the rainforest and the ocean below, it was breathtaking. As soon as we sat down I was nervous-When was it going to happen? What is he going to say? What did the ring look like?! Luckily my old friend Chardonnay was there to calm me down. For whatever reason, and to this day I still don't know what came over me, I started to talk politics. I never talk politics. I try to avoid talking about politics like it's the plague. Can you tell I was nervous?? But very quickly and politely Ryan switched the subject. Before I could take a breath, he was down on one knee purposing. Now as much as I like sharing all of this with everyone, Ryan would kill me if I told all the sweet things he said. Plus I like the idea of that just being between him and I : ) Without a seconds thought, I wholeheartedly said YES! We were ENGAGED! Waiter, bring on the champagne!

A funny side note: when the waiter brought us champagne, he showed us the bottle for our approval. We could have cared less about what kind of champagne, we just wanted to celebrate. A $3 bottle of Boonesfarm would have been fine. It wasn't until the bill came that we realized what we had agreed to. And $215/bottle later we drank EVERY drop of that champagne : ) You only get engaged once!

Besides actually getting engaged, the most exciting part was calling all of our parents and sharing the good news. We had a 20 minutes international phone card and damnit we were going to use every one of those minutes! I will never forgot those calls. The love and excitement was overwhelming! We had 2 minutes left-not enough to call our siblings, but just enough to call my bestfriend (and MOH!) Jessica. I literally yelled "we're engaged" and hung up!

It was actually kind of great that we were so isolated afterwards. It gave us time to just let it all sink in and enjoy every moment. We also quickly learned that if you tell people on vacation that you just got engaged, they buy you drinks! Hey, we're on a budget, we'll take anything for free!

So that's our story in a nutshell. Thanks for reading! Now it's time to start planning!